Classic Car Facts, Stats & Trivia
Discussion
Mercedes used to test cars with butter in boot. If it had melted after a days testing, they knew they had to improve insulation.
The approved temp fix for the first Aston Martin Virage when the wipers overpowered the splines, was to use foil from a cigarette packet to pack them and jam back on.
The original Aston Martin V8 Vantage has mucked up Ackermann. On lock, the outside front wheel skids along surface.
The wiring designer for TVR back in the day was a trained landscape gardener.
The Bugatti Type 35 front brakes have a kind of built in servo, because as the front axle twists brakes become more effective. Believe a well known British car (Austin 7?) had a brake design that did the opposite.
The "another mystery car" will never be solved.
The original Lotus Elite had a lot of its initial body troubles caused by the people making the glassfibre monocoque bodies using butt joints, as opposed to the lap joints specified, to save time.
The sound deadening in an old school Aston V8 is made from sheets of lead (normally) in a foam sandwich.
You could tell that your original Renault 5 was soon to depart this earth because of terminal rust when you heard a clicking sound when going around corners.
Ford put a lip at the base of screen in front of wipers on Sierra to slow down airflow on its aero shape over windscreen. Otherwise droplet speed was too fast for wipers to clear..
If the fuel computer on your TVR Griffith keeps falling onto passengers legs, along with trim below it, buy some Velcro and attach to back of dashboard and computer to solve.
The first American casualty of World War 1 occurred when a propeller on a Bugatti U-16 aero engine failed and then hit and killed him. (Bit OT TBH.)
Back in the day car glass was not called glass. The term "light" was used.
When asked what one of his open cars (not sure which) was like in the wet, Colin Chapman reportedly said choppy around the ankles.
The approved temp fix for the first Aston Martin Virage when the wipers overpowered the splines, was to use foil from a cigarette packet to pack them and jam back on.
The original Aston Martin V8 Vantage has mucked up Ackermann. On lock, the outside front wheel skids along surface.
The wiring designer for TVR back in the day was a trained landscape gardener.
The Bugatti Type 35 front brakes have a kind of built in servo, because as the front axle twists brakes become more effective. Believe a well known British car (Austin 7?) had a brake design that did the opposite.
The "another mystery car" will never be solved.
The original Lotus Elite had a lot of its initial body troubles caused by the people making the glassfibre monocoque bodies using butt joints, as opposed to the lap joints specified, to save time.
The sound deadening in an old school Aston V8 is made from sheets of lead (normally) in a foam sandwich.
You could tell that your original Renault 5 was soon to depart this earth because of terminal rust when you heard a clicking sound when going around corners.
Ford put a lip at the base of screen in front of wipers on Sierra to slow down airflow on its aero shape over windscreen. Otherwise droplet speed was too fast for wipers to clear..
If the fuel computer on your TVR Griffith keeps falling onto passengers legs, along with trim below it, buy some Velcro and attach to back of dashboard and computer to solve.
The first American casualty of World War 1 occurred when a propeller on a Bugatti U-16 aero engine failed and then hit and killed him. (Bit OT TBH.)
Back in the day car glass was not called glass. The term "light" was used.
When asked what one of his open cars (not sure which) was like in the wet, Colin Chapman reportedly said choppy around the ankles.
Edited by _Sorted_ on Sunday 22 July 00:28
Lada is a Slavic female given name. In Slavic mythology, Lada is the goddess of beauty, love and marriage. It may be derived from the word lad, the Old Czech lada (girl, maid) or Serbian and Croatian mlada (bride).
Pronounced lah-dah. Lada is also a shortened name for the Slavic names Ladislava and Wladysława.
In Hungarian, more appropriately, it means crate!
Pronounced lah-dah. Lada is also a shortened name for the Slavic names Ladislava and Wladysława.
In Hungarian, more appropriately, it means crate!
In the late 1960s, almost all 1.6-litre Ford 'Kent' cross-flow engines were quoted as 1,599cc. Except in the original Escort Mexico, where the self-same engine was quoted at 1,601cc. In that case, this was calculated by using the maximum production tolerance dimension for the crankshaft stroke. The reason ? In those days, motorsport capacity classes were 'Up to 1,600cc' and 'over 1,600cc' - and for the Mexico there was strong demand among tuners for enlarging engines ....
Hewland used to make a variety of special gearboxes for race cars in the 1960s and 1970s, with type numbers which often puzzled the enthusiasts. There was a particular transmission coded as an 'FG' which apparently stood for 'F*****g Good' ....
At one time, too, there was yet another Hewland gearbox coded 'DG' - where DG stood for 'Different Gearbox' ....
At one time, too, there was yet another Hewland gearbox coded 'DG' - where DG stood for 'Different Gearbox' ....
In the mid-1960s, most Triumph prototypes carried four-letter codes for internal factory use.
When the Vitesse was coming along, it was coded 'Atom', and when the Spitfire followed it, it was coded 'Bomb'. Even so, there is apparently no truth in the rumour that the Vitesse-engined Spitfire (which was eventually badged GT6) was originally coded 'Atom Bomb' ...
When the Vitesse was coming along, it was coded 'Atom', and when the Spitfire followed it, it was coded 'Bomb'. Even so, there is apparently no truth in the rumour that the Vitesse-engined Spitfire (which was eventually badged GT6) was originally coded 'Atom Bomb' ...
Another well-known story from Jaguar, in the 1950s, is that the saloon car which was being styled to replaced the Mk VIII was originally to have been badged as the Mark IX ( Mark 9 .... geddit ?). Unhappily, it took so long to settle the design that it was nicknamed 'Mark Time' - and finally appeared as the Mark X.
Do you know, incidentally, that in 1959 the chassis of the Daimler SP250 sports car was a straight copy of the Triumph TR3A frame ?
Oh, and another little folk story from Coventry - the original be-finned Sunbeam Alpine sports car of 1959 - 1962, was actually manufactured outside the Rootes Group - by Armstrong-Siddeley ?
Do you know, incidentally, that in 1959 the chassis of the Daimler SP250 sports car was a straight copy of the Triumph TR3A frame ?
Oh, and another little folk story from Coventry - the original be-finned Sunbeam Alpine sports car of 1959 - 1962, was actually manufactured outside the Rootes Group - by Armstrong-Siddeley ?
Edited by AAGR on Sunday 22 July 22:32
Edited by AAGR on Sunday 22 July 22:53
It's amazing how many people think that the production run (200-off) of Ford's Group B RS200 car was 'built by Reliant' in 1985-1986. That's not true - the factory in question was itself an ex-Reliant building (it was where Reliant's own-brand engine had once been manufactured), and it was located at Shenstone, some miles away from Reliant's existing plant.
AAGR said:
Another well-known story from Jaguar, in the 1950s, is that the saloon car which was being styled to replaced the Mk VIII was originally to have been badged as the Mark IX ( Mark 9 .... geddit ?). Unhappily, it took so long to settle the design that it was nicked 'Mark Time' - and finally appeared as the Mark X.
But the Mark IX was produced, as the successor to the Mk VIII, and ran from 1959-61. Or do you mean that because the Mark X's development was delayed, the Mark IX had to be introduced as a temporary stop-gap ? Not sure what you mean by "Mark 9" - it was never known as that.Also on Jaguar models, there was apparently no Mark VI because Bentley objected.
gothatway said:
AAGR said:
Another well-known story from Jaguar, in the 1950s, is that the saloon car which was being styled to replaced the Mk VIII was originally to have been badged as the Mark IX ( Mark 9 .... geddit ?). Unhappily, it took so long to settle the design that it was nicked 'Mark Time' - and finally appeared as the Mark X.
But a Mark IX was produced, as the successor to the Mk VIII, and ran from 1959-61. Or do you mean that because the Mark X's development was delayed, the Mark IX had to be introduced as a temporary stop-gap ? Not sure what you mean by "Mark 9" - it was never known as that.Also on Jaguar models, there was apparently no Mark VI because Bentley objected.
2 sMoKiN bArReLs said:
silverfoxcc said:
Re Morris Minor widening
If you look at early examples you will see where the additional four inches were put on the bonnet
I've always thought this was a myth. (All Moggies have that rib on the bonnet). Why doesn't the roof have the same thing then? If you look at early examples you will see where the additional four inches were put on the bonnet
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